Arolithos Traditional Village Hotel

This is not like a regular hotel, but a unique place to stay. As the name goes, it resembles a picturesque Cretan village and it is a pleasure to stroll down the streets. Since it is located in the middle of nowhere, I would recommend the half board option that includes dinner. Food is delicious, mostly Cretan cuisine, and the waiter’s attention couldn’t be better, both warm and professional. The swimming pool is the perfect place to relax. The only drawback is that the rooms could do with some upgrading, since the replication of old village conditions needn’t be taken beyond the guests rooms doors. This said, the room had a small fridge and the air conditioning worked properly (a must since it can get quite hot in Crete). I would definitely come back to Arolithos.

The village is small and quaint. There's really nothing to do besides daytrios out of town, lounging by the pool, or staying in your room (in the AC). We expected to do lots of day trips but then had a change of plans, so we were at Arolithos for 6 days. The pool is great - but it was almost always full of kids. So, it wasn't particularly relaxing or pleasant for other people (not the hotel's fault of course). The room was drab and rather depressing. The mattress was literally the worst I've ever slept on. You could feel the springs just running your hand over the top of the mattress, so every turn was an unpleasant tweak as some part of your body takes across a metal spring. Miserable. I literally took pain pills in the middle of the night so I would be able to sleep to a reasonable hour of the morning. If not, the pain from the bed work me up before 6 am. I mentioned the horrible mattress when checking out, and the young lady kind of shrugged and said she would tell the manager. I hope she did because it is unreasonable to pay to sleep on mattresses that bad. On Friday and Saturday nights, there were weddings with super loud music until at least 4 am. If you are a light sleeper, give it up. The food at the tavern was excellent. The highlight of our stay was the restaurant staff. So kind and attentive.

Located outside the Cretan town of Heraklion, Hotel Arolithos offers charm and sweeping views over the countryside and the town. Dating only from the 1980s, this purposely built village is the vision of a single man to build something in the style of Crete’s traditional villages. His family has kept his vision alive and welcomes guests for a delightful stay. :x: Our room, Number 8, was spacious and clean. The bed was comfortable. We could look out onto the village from the small terrace, which had a table and two chairs. The bathroom is small; the hot water took a bit of time to reach the faucet but when it did, it was HOT! One inconvenient drawback: WiFi was not available in the room. It is accessible from other areas of the hotel, though. This fact is stated on the website, however. :x: Breakfast, included in the room rate, is plentiful and filling. Christina, the lovely manager/waitress at the hotel’s tavern, is friendly and outgoing. Each morning we looked forward to seeing and chatting with her. :x: I recommend a stay at Hotel Arolithos.

We have stayed here for 4 nights stay. We recommend you not to book here. Firstly we couldn’t sleep well because they had parties/ events for 2 nights in row with very loud music until 4am, even though the hours of silence in Greece are from 22:00 to 7:30. We have measured the noice inside the room at 4pm, it was over 60 dB. We booked here to take a rest but then we couldn’t even sleep!!! Secondly there is no wifi in the room. They said there is only wifi in public areas, but the wifi in the area next to the pool barely works. The only area where the wifi works is the restaurant. Thirdly the bathroom and room floor are dirty. There are no slippers, so that we have to keep wearing shoes all the time inside to room. Lastly we booked the taxi from the hotel at 4am to the airport. The reception person said that she would arrange it for us. Then we have waited for 20m but the taxi didn’t come. We tried to call the emergency number of the hotel but no one answered. What a service here!

Amazing restful place and environment and close to many places to visit. The village is traditional and plenty of colors. Surrounded by cats and very kind persons, nice meals I really recommend it. :-)

We had a truly fabulous stay here. The room was beautiful, like a museum. There is a museum on site. The people are so friendly, and the grounds are absolutely gorgeous and the food is very good as well. We are cat lovers, so we took countless pictures of the kittens. We stayed here briefly before we left Crete. There was a couple there that was spending two weeks there and using it as a home-base because they just love it so much. We hope to go back.